SOUTH AFRICA: THOUSANDS OF ZULU GIRLS TAKE PART IN TRADITIONAL VIRGINITY TESTS WHICH ENSURE RESPECTABILITY AND HELPS PREVENT SPEAD OF AIDS

Record ID: 473033

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: THOUSANDS OF ZULU GIRLS TAKE PART IN TRADITIONAL VIRGINITY TESTS WHICH ENSURE RESPECTABILITY AND HELPS PREVENT SPEAD OF AIDS
  • Date: 22nd January 2001
  • Summary: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, SOUTH AFRICA (RECENT AND FILE) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF TEENAGE GIRLS AWAITING THE VIRGINITY TEST IN STADIUM (5 SHOTS) 0.25 2. SCU (VOXPOP) (English) TEENAGE GIRL SAYING: 'It's good to be a virgin' 0.27 3. SCU (VOXPOP) (English) TEENAGE GIRL 2 SAYING: 'We are doing this because we are proud of ourselves and we are protecting ourselves from HIV.' 0.34 4. SCU (VOXPOP) (English) TEENAGE GIRL 3 SAYING: 'You are sure that you are not HIV positive when you are a virgin and other diseases made by sex' 0.43 5. V ARIOUS, TEENAGE GIRLS WAITING TO BE EXAMINED BY FLORENCE BUTHELEZI (3 SHOTS) 0.58 (FILE) 6. VARIOUS OF VIRGINS OF THE ZULU TRIBE GATHERING BEFORE ZULU KING (5 SHOTS) 1.21 VARIOUS LOCATIONS, SOUTH AFRICA (RECENT AND FILE) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 7. MV, FLORENCE BUTHELEZI EXAMINING GIRL TO CHECK THAT THE GIRL'S VIRGINITY IS INTACT/ CU GIRL (2 SHOTS) 1.30 8. MV, GIRL STANDING UP AFTER EXAMINATION 1.35 9. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Zulu) BUTHELEZI SAYING: This is our old traditional practice - done by our mothers which we also want to do out own children, to encourage them to take care and look after themselves. What is making us scared is the AIDS epidemic which is destroying everything. If these children look after themselves it won't be easy for them to catch these diseases. We also test them to try and protect their virginity until they get married.' 2.03 10. GV, GIRL BEING CHECKED BY BUTHELEZI 2.20 11. CLOSE UP OF GIRL'S FACE 2.27 12. MV, GIRL GETTING UP ONTO HER FEET 2.34 13. SCU (VOXPOP) (English) BRENDA MKHIZE SAYING: 'It's better to be a virgin than to have AIDS and to have a baby at the age of 16. Coz Im 16 years old. I dont see any reason to sleep with a guy. Its no use.' 2.48 14. VARIOUS, BUTHELEZI EXAMINING GIRLS (3 SHOTS) 3.18 15. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Zulu) BUTHELEZI SAYING: 'Sometimes some people blame us for testing the girls - that they are too young but what we found out is that most of the time it is these girls aged seven to eight that are damaged and on investigating, we find out that some of them were sexually abused by Uncles and other relatives and some are afraid to talk but feel at ease to tell me who has been abusing them.' 3.42 16. SV, GIRLS WAITING AROUND IN STADIUM 3.47 17. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANDILE GUMEDE SAYING: 'Wherever we go we find some children who have already been deflowered. Some of them when we used to talk to the they used to tell us it was rape.' 3.56 18. VARIOUS, GIRLS SINGING AND DANCING TO CELEBRATE THE VIRGINITY TESTS (3 SHOTS) 4.27 19. VARIOUS, GIRLS HOLDING UP THEIR CERTIFICATES CONFIRMING THEIR VIRGINITY 4.39 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 6th February 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, SOUTH AFRICA
  • City:
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics:
  • Reuters ID: LVA8NHCTLRP8TQN4TBRYVHRO9V0O
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Thousands of girls across South Africa are
    queuing up for an unusual but all important kind of exam -
    the virginity test.

    Dressed in nothing more than a skimpy traditional loin
    cloth and beads, the teenagers are not at all self-conscious
    about their bare breasts. Instead, theyre proud - they say -
    to take part in a mass celebration of their chastity.



    Female virginity is important in many parts of
    Africa. Its a badge of respectability, which in many cases
    places a premium on a woman, determining the bride price a
    family may demand for their daughter.

    Virgins play a central role in the annual reed dance of
    the Zulu tribe.

    Untouched maidens gather reeds symbolising their
    virginity to parade before the King hoping to be chosen as
    his new bride. If a reed breaks its a sign that the girl is
    not pure. A disgrace enough for her to be beaten and sent
    home.

    Nowadays, matronly women like Florence Buthelezi - who
    also went through similar tests in their youth, are
    responsible for checking if each girls hymen is still
    intact.

    'This is our old traditional practice - done by our
    mothers which we also want to do out own children, to
    encourage them to take care and look after themselves. What
    is making us scared is the AIDS epidemic which is destroying
    everything. If these children look after themselves it won't
    be easy for them to catch these diseases. We also test them
    to try and protect their virginity until they get married,"
    Buthelezi explained.

    Reviving this age old cultural practice might be one way
    of steaming the spread of the AIDS epidemic. Currently, at
    least 20 percent of all South African adults are
    infected with HIV, largely through sexual transmission. Its
    one of the highest rates in the world.

    Encouraging girls to abstain from sex before marriage by
    safeguarding their virginity - protects them from the
    disease.

    One teenager who believes in the test is Brenda Mkhize
    'It's better to be a virgin than to have AIDS and to
    have a baby at the age of 16. Coz Im 16 years old. I dont
    see any reason to sleep with a guy. Its no use,' she said.

    This is important education in a country where in the
    past unscrupulous traditional healers told men infected with
    HIV that sex with a virgin would instantly cure their
    disease. The virginity tests have also become a way of
    tracking any possible sexual abuse the girls might've
    experienced and which - without this rite of passage - might
    go unnoticed.

    'Sometimes some people blame us for testing the girls -
    that they are too young but what we found out is that most
    of the time it is these girls aged seven to eight that are
    damaged and on investigating, we find out that some of them
    were sexually abused by Uncles and other relatives and some
    are afraid to talk but feel at ease to tell me who has been
    abusing them,' Buthelezi revealed.

    Despite the clear benefits of virginity testing,
    organisers of the event have come under fire for bringing
    out-dated and unhygienic practices into the 21st century.

    But this hasnt stopped young girls from all corners of South
    Africa from gathering at a local stadium for their tests,
    singing and dancing their pride.

    On display - certificates confirming their graduation as
    virgins.



    ----ENDS----








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